


A Trip Gone Wrong

by Lanihaluki



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23033077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanihaluki/pseuds/Lanihaluki
Summary: SO I found this old story I wrote when I was twelve and wanted to post lmao. If you can tell I didn’t fix the writing but I hope you enjoy it!!Basically about four kids. Sky, Dylan, Kaelin, Miles. They go to camp half blood.
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

DYLAN (the night before the incident)

  
  
It's late, almost midnight. There's a chilly but tense feel to the air. It's cold here. It's always cold on Earth, now.

  
My best friend stands in front of me, on my front porch, her short blonde hair dancing in the wind. She backs away slowly, one step after the other. One step closer to the ground: one step farther from me.

  
"See ya tomorrow," she says, waving. A grin is on her face. I smile back.

  
I back away too, into the direction of my front door. After all we've been through together, after all the quests, we're calling it quits. For now.

  
"Bye!" I call to her, missing her presence already.

  
I watch her as she hops on her bike and peddles back to her house. A cold wind hits my face. I back away, opening the door of my house. But still I keep staring after her. I have no idea. I have no idea that this will be the last time I'll ever see my best friend.


	2. Chapter 2

SKY

  
I never wanted to go on this dumb school trip. Between the three hour plane ride and bad hotels we're staying at, I should've known better. I unknowingly signed myself up for disaster. Great.

What I thought was going to be a fun trip to Disney World turned out that we were only going to random aquariums throughout the state. And, for some horrible reason, through the forces of fate and evil, I'm assigned to sit next to the person I despise most: Kaelin Young.

Yes, I'm forced to sit next to the most popular girl in my school on the three hour long plane ride. Not only popular, but also the prettiest girl in my grade. Every guy likes her, and every girl wants to be her. She has green eyes that seem to change colors, flawless skin, perfect waves of ombré hair, and a natural tan. It's those traits combined that make her even more stuck-up. Which of course, is why I hate her.

The only good outcome of this trip is that my best friend, Dylan Spiegelman, is coming with me. Me and him have been close ever since an incident in fifth grade, when this buff, red-headed sixth grader named Nick had ganged up on me with his friends. Dylan had stood up for me, and we've been best friends ever since.

Speaking of bullies, I've been bullied quite a bit throughout my life. Most people would say I'm weird, strange, reckless, or annoying. Because of that...I'm not sure why. I AM pretty normal. Well, except for that one time when I 'accidentally' blew up the school after someone got me angry. And the other time I 'pushed' this kid fifty feet across the lunch-room when he made me cry. I never DO anything, things just happen when I loose control of my emotions.

I sigh loudly as I look out the window of the plane, turning the volume of my iPod up even more. Next to me, Kaelin flips through a magazine, circling the random clothes and makeup with a marker.

I roll my eyes for what feels like the hundredth time. I don't know why she'd even want to read that thing. All she and her friends seem to care about is clothes, makeup, and boys.

Finally, my loud music pays off. Kaelin throws down her magazine and turns to me. "Turn it down!" she hisses.

I take one headphone out. "Oh, did you say to turn it up?" 

“No!" Kaelin growls. "Down! Turn it DOWN."

"What's the magic word?" I ask.

Kaelin grits her teeth. "Just turn it down, Sky!"

"Sorry, but I'm a little busy listening to my music," I say, my voice thick with sarcasm.

“You know you won't ever have a lot of friends like I do. The only friend you have is your little boyfriend, and I bet even  he doesn’t like you!"

That did it. I rip on my headphones and feel rage flood through me. "Hey!" I shout. "I have other friends besides Dylan.” I didn’t actually have any other friends, but I wouldn’t tell her that. “And he isn't my boyfriend!"

Kaelin is fuming too. "Let's face it, Sky, one day he's gonna find another girl and he'll ditch you for good."

Deep down, that's one of my greatest fears. That he'll suddenly get bored of me and replace me with some other person. If that happened, I'd be alone. And if I'm honest with myself, I don't have any other friends besides him. But I'll never admit that.

I narrow my eyes at Kaelin. "You're just jealous. You can't even get through life without makeup! I bet you’re ugly without it!”

She points a finger at me. "Hey, I never wanted to sit with you. So you don't annoy me and I won't annoy you! Got it?"

I put my headphones back in. "Completely."

I turn back to the window, anger flooding through my veins. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. I glance over to where the teachers in charge, Mrs. Gram and Mr. Reynolds, are sitting. They are both looking at me and Kaelin. A feeling a dread passes through me, and I know I'm going to get in trouble the minute I get off this plane. I hope I won't mess anything else up like I usually do.

After thirty minutes later of suffering, we're let out of the plane. I gather my luggage and wait for Dylan, who was farther back in the plane. I spot his bright neon hoodie amongst the crowd and make my way towards him. It’s never hard to spot him. Dylan usual attire consists of some kind of bright-colored hoodie, which he refuses to take off even when it's hot out.

"That was horrible," I say as I walk to his side. The anger I was feeling earlier immediately fades away. I begin to feel more relaxed, the way I always do when I'm with Dylan.

He yawns and brushes his fingers through his tousled brown hair. " So horrible! You know who I had to sit with? Janna."

We stare at the wall blankly for a moment before shuddering. "Yikes," I say. "Doesn't she always talk to herself?"

He nods, a disgusted look on his face as he spots Janna behind him.

“Janna, go talk to Dylan," Janna says, twirling her short black hair with one finger. “No. Fix your hair first! God, Janna!” Then she looked up as if she just noticed them. “Hi Dylan!”

I stifle a laugh.

"Janna," Dylan mutters, narrowing his eyes at her. Amused, I watch as he takes a step back.

Janna then sees me standing next to him. She narrows her beady black eyes in a predatory gaze. I cross my arms, giving her a look that clearly says 'back off.'

Janna's face falls and she slinks away. Dylan and I burst out laughing. 

“I think she's afraid of me!" I say, laughing even more.

Dylan turns to me. "Afraid of WHAT?"

At that moment, the teachers call for everyone in our small group of 8th graders to gather around. I spot Kaelin whispering with her friend. She points at me and they laugh. Obnoxiously. What was she telling her friends? I frown and step closer to Dylan.

The teachers proceed to take roll call, and once everyone says they're here, Mrs. Gram shouts, "Sky and Kaelin, come forward."

"Want me to come with you?" asks Dylan, knowing we must've had a fight on the plane. I immediately feel a little envious of him. He always gets straight A's and never gets in trouble. I'm the one who messes everything up.

"Don't worry," I tell him, patting his shoulder. "I can handle it."

He stares at me. "Sky, that's what you said last time. And the time before that. Every time you've ended up with detention!"

I roll my eyes. "Relax, Dylan. It's just Mrs. Gram! It's not like she's going to  eat me."

He starts to say something but I'm already walking over to Mrs. Gram, fully aware of what she's calling me for.

Mrs. Gram is the head guidance counselor of my school. She looks to be in her forties, and has her gray hair always pulled back in a bun. She usually is rude to me for unknown reasons. No surprise, she doesn't look happy. 

“Mr. Reynolds and I saw you two were having an...issue...on the plane?" she says, more as a statement than a question.

I glance over at Kaelin. She shoots me a glare, but I see the clear message: she'll do the talking.

"It was all a huge misunderstanding, I'm sure," says Kaelin in a soothingly sweet voice that annoys me to no end. “Sky made a big deal out of nothing. All I asked was for her to turn her headphones done!”

“EXCUSE ME?” I shouted, suddenly angry. 

“No! My volume was fine! You take that back!”

“You’re such a drama queen.”

Mrs. Gram narrows her eyes at us. "Girls! I don't care if it was a misunderstanding or not. We're going to have a talk, you two."

I frown. I'm definitely going to be grounded when I get home. I already know the routine by heart: he yells at me for a good thirty minutes and demands what happened. But I can never explain the situation without sounding crazy.

Our guidance counselor motions for us to follow her. 

“Wait," I say. "Where are we going?"

She turns back to us, and gleam in her eye that makes her look like a crazy person. "A place to talk, Ms. Jacobsen. A place to talk."

She walks briskly down the hallway, forcing us to hustle after her. We follow her, walking down a few more hallways until we reach an empty waiting room.

She sits down and motions for us to sit with her. Kaelin sits, after some hesitation. I keep standing.

"Why don't you sit?" asks Mrs. Gram, a strange edge to her voice. I shake my head.

"I feel like standing," I say. Not only that, but I want to be as close to the exit as possible.

"So," says Kaelin, shifting her gaze back to Mrs. Gram. "What did you want to talk about, Mrs. Gram?"

I nearly strangle her. It's so obvious! I'm in trouble and Kaelin is going to edge her way out of it. I look back at Mrs. Gram.

"Well, I wanted to ask you a few questions about what happened. I'll ask a few individual ones first, and then you can answer some together," she says, placing her bag down on the chair next to her. "I'll ask Kaelin first."

"What would teachers describe you as, Ms. Young?" Kaelin thinks for a moment. "Um, probably...friendly?"

Mrs. Gram nods and writes something down in her notebook. "Great. Second question. What's your favorite class?"

"I'd say history, maybe. All my friends are in that class.”

I roll my eyes. Of course she'd choose that class. That's the one I'm picked on the most. She and her friends are always throwing pieces of paper or food at me. I responded by throwing a book at her, and what did I get? DETENTION.

“Interesting," says Mrs. Gram, looking a little too interested. "Now, what would you like to be when you grow up?"

"Oh, I know this one for sure! I want to be a model!" exclaims Kaelin. “A model at Victoria Secret!”

I can't help myself. "Woooow, I never would've guessed." 

Kaelin glares at me. “Shut up, Sky."

"Alright, Sky! Now, your turn!" says Mrs. Gram before things get ugly.

"...Fine," I mutter.

"Alright, Ms. Jacobsen, first question. Are you focusing in your classes?"

I stubbornly cross my arms. "Do I HAVE to answer this?"

"Yes, yes you do," Mrs. Gram growls, starting to get annoyed. I'm used to adults getting frustrated with me.

"And why is that?" I ask. "Just answer it!"

I close my eyes for a second. "Okay. Then my answer would be...no."

Mrs. Gram nods and writes in her notebook like she did with Kaelin.

"Okay. How would you describe your typical mood? Happy? Does it have to do with being around anyone?"

"I guess I'm not very happy unless I'm around my best friend. I’m... always happy around Dylan.”

Kaelin looks at me curiously. I ignore her. Whatever she's thinking, I really don't want to know.

"Now, what do you think your greatest fear is?" asks Mrs. Gram.

"Isn't that a little too...personal?" Kaelin asks, voicing my thoughts.

"Yeah, aren't you supposed to be asking about the situation from earlier?" I question.

I look closer at Mrs. Gram, noticing for the first time that she no longer looks herself. She's starting to turn a strange green color.

"Um...are you going to throw up...?” I trail off.

She barks a laugh. "Yes! Of course I am! Why else would I be turning green? Because I'm turning into my true form?"

She pales a bit, as if she's said something wrong. Then, she shoots us a toothy grin. We stare at her. Kaelin stands up and edges next to me.

“This is getting weird,” Kaelin tells me.

“Yeah,” I say. “So weird.” 

"I've been watching you both. And the results are interesting. I know what you are!"

"Excuse me?" I demand. My heart begins to beats so loud I'd be surprised if the other two can't hear it.

Mrs. Gram laughs again, more deep and throaty than a normal laugh. "I know it now. It all ties in, Ms. Jacobsen. I can smell you."

Kaelin and I exchange a weird look. 

"What?" Kaelin says. "I didn't put on THAT much perfume this morning!"

“I'm not talking about perfume, Ms. Young. Your scent. It calls to me now, more than ever."

Then, the weirdest thing happens. Mrs. Gram starts itching herself. Violently. So violently her skin starts peeling off. Beneath it, a new layer of skin is revealed. The same green color I saw on her earlier. Something that looks like a various heads burst out of her body. Am I going crazy or did I go off my ADHD meds?

Kaelin and I stare at her in horror. "W-what is going---" Kaelin starts to say, but a bright light flashes from inside what used to be Mrs. Gram, forcing us to close our eyes.

Still confused and kind of freaked out, I follow my gut feeling. I turn around and run back the way we came. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Wait!" Kaelin shouts. She runs after me. 

A roar echoes through the building. Whatever that thing is, I really don't want to be eaten by it.

"Hurry up!" I yell back, turning a corner.

"I can't!" Kaelin shrieks. I look back to see she's fallen on the floor. On her feet are  high heels.

"Really?" I say with a groan.

"What? I didn't think I'd be running!"

"Just take them off!" I grab her shoes and wrestle them off. 

“No! They're my favorite!" Kaelin takes them back.

I throw my hands in the air. "They are _shoes_! SHOES!”

”They cost me $789 dollars!” 

I‘ve never wanted to punch someone more in that moment. I hate her so much right now.

“Whatever! Take them with you, then."

She nods and stands up. We start running again. Another roar bellows through the building. I look back to see the monster round the corner.

I run faster, navigating through the confused crowd of people. I turn into the next hallway and bang straight into someone. The person yelps. My head hurts and I tip backward from the impact. Consciously, I flinch as I shut my eyes and fall to the ground. 

"Sky?" says a familiar voice. I open my eyes and find myself staring straight into Dylan's emerald green ones.

"Oh hey Dylan!" I do a double take. “DYLAN! We need to get out of here!”

He looks confused. "Huh?"

I don't bother to explain. I point to the monster that used to be Mrs. Gram, currently racing towards us. "Look!"

At that moment, Kaelin catches up to me. 

“What do we do?" she asks, trying to catch her breath. I groaned. I kind of hoped the monster would’ve eaten her by now. 

The monster roars, signifying our decision. 

“We run!" Dylan shouts. We leave the rest of our class behind, who all look dumbfounded. The three of us race through the airport, not exactly sure where we're going.

We run through another hallway, only to end up at a baggage claim area. I quickly look around and spot a door leading to the outside world.

"Exit!" I manage to say, pointing at the door. We run outside and sit at a bench for a second, catching our breath. I breathe in and out, brushing my fingers through my hair.

"What's going on?" Dylan demands, staring at me. He looks kind of mad. I'm not surprised, considering he doesn't like dangerous or reckless situations.

“There was a monster in there!”

“But monsters aren’t real.”

“This one was,” Kaelin says. “It tried to eat me! And now my hair is ruined!”

“Yeah,” I say, rolling my eyes. “It tried to eat  both of us.”

Dylan gasps. “Okay... I believe you! Where did it come from?” 

I open my mouth to answer, but someone cuts me off. 

“Come with me," a girl says. We all look up to see a dark-haired girl that looks around seventeen above us. 

“What?" Kaelin asks.

"Come with me," the girl repeats. "I'll explain what's going on once we're out of range."

"What if we don't?" I say, crossing my arms.

"If you don't...you'll be killed. Don't worry, I'm taking you somewhere safe."

Kaelin and Dylan stand up. I remain seated, my arms crossed and a deep frown on my face. Dylan looks back at me and groans.

"Sky, this isn't the time to be stubborn. I'm going so you’re going." 

“NO! I’m not going!”

“Why?”

“Are you kidding? I don’t get in the car with strangers!”

Kaelin glares at me. “Why do you have to be so annoying?”

“Why do you have to be so rude?” I shout.

The girl taps her watch. “We don’t have much time, guys.”

Dylan sighs and looks at me. “We’ll die if we stay here. And I don’t want you to die, so  yes . You’re going.”

Why is he always right? He grabs me by the arm and hoists me up. I frown but don't say anything. I want to protest, but I also don’t want to get eaten by that monster.

The girl leads us to her car, a blue convertible. Once we're all seated, she starts the engine. She drives off, leaving the airport and monster behind us.

While she drives, Kaelin and I explain the situation to Dylan. Then, we repeat what happened to our driver.

"Huh..." she says. "Well, me and the others will explain everything once we get there."

"Where?" Dylan asks.

The girl smiles at us through the rear-view mirror. "Camp Half-Blood, of course.”


	3. Chapter 3

KAELIN

  
If I said this hasn't been the weirdest day of my life, I'd be lying. I tend to not run around being chased by creepy-looking reptile-like monsters. Yes, this day is just THAT weird.

I smooth down my light pink dress, wrinkly from moving around so much. I sigh, staring down at my ruined high heels. Hundreds of dollars gone down the drain. And the heels always made me look taller and prettier, so now that they’re ruined? I’m devastated. 

Ever since I've been little, people have said I'm beautiful. I love hearing it. It makes me feel confident. But, something that doesn't make me feel good is when people assume. When they assume I'm stupid and air-headed.

My half-sister, Bree, is the one that's smarter. She's eleven, two years younger than me. I know she gets jealous of me, but no matter how many times I insist she's pretty, she doesn't believe me.

The problem is that in my school, if you want to be popular, you have to be pretty and rich. And that only gets you so far. I've learned from various magazines all about the right way to do things. With that, it earned me my right as the most popular girl in school.

Sure, I might have a lot of 'friends,' but my best friend, Tina, is the only one that understands me on some level.

Tina is the second prettiest and second most popular girl in my school. We've been good friends for all of middle school, and we both have the hopes of being models when we grow up.

I've never been uncertain of my future. I've always had in planned out in a line. Get through high school with satisfactory grades, get through college, and get into the modeling life with no problem. I've always been sure of it. Until I saw that multi-headed monster chasing us thirty minutes ago.

I've been silent this whole ride, not really paying attention to Sky and Dylan, who are having a conversation. I can tell Sky is more relaxed with him instead of anyone else. Everyone knows they're best friends. I know I'm mean to Sky, but I have a reason to be. I'll never admit it, but I envy her.

Not for her looks, although she is still pretty, but for her friendship. She might only have one friend, but I can tell they're very close. I've never had that kind of closeness with anybody. Not even Tina or Bree.

I look outside the window to see no palm trees anywhere. In fact, it looks like we're in a city. How did we get this far in only thirty minutes?

I ask the girl this. "Magic," she says simply. "You'll find out sooner or later once we get to camp."

Once we get to camp.  The same answer all of us have gotten whenever we've asked her a question. Sky and Dylan stop their conversation and look over at the girl.

"Can we at least know your name?" Sky asks. 

“Donna," the girl responds. "My name is Donna."

“Hi,” Dylan says. “I’m Dylan. Nice to meet you, uh Donna.” 

"I'm Kaelin," I say. "And this is Sky."

“I can introduce  myself , thank you very much,” Sky says angrily. Then she leans forward. “I’m Sky.”

I clench my hands to keep from strangling her. Also, that would just ruin my nails, and I can’t risk that. Instead, I study the girl's features through the car mirror. She has long brown hair, which is currently in a braid. She has gray eyes that seem to study everything and anything at once. I’ve never seen a person with gray eyes before.

"Sky," I say as nicely as I can since we tend to get annoyed by each other. "What do you think Mrs. Gram meant when she said she knew what we were?"

Sky looks over at me. I expect her to snap, but she seems to have calmed down a little. "I don't know...I guess maybe we're secretly aliens."

Dylan and I stare at her. Sky stares back. She crosses her arms and laughs a little. "What? I'm just joking!"

"Right," says Dylan, laughing nervously. 

“Wait, you would actually believe that?"

We nod. 

“After what happened today I could believe anything!" I say.

"Believe anything, huh?"

I glare at her. "Don't go there.” 

"Well, she's not far off," says Donna from the drivers seat. 

“Who?" I ask.

"Sky," she replies. "She's not far off about the alien thing." The three of us open our mouths to say something but she holds up a hand. "Just as I've been saying, everything will be explained once we get there."

We all groan.

A short time later, we've arrived in Montauk, at the end of Long Island, which I suspect is where the camp is. I check my watch. It's 1:20. There's no way we could've driven so far in so limited of time without magic. Either that or I’m delusional.

We step out of the car. I take a breath of the fresh, salty air. I look around, seeing nothing but trees.

"This way," says Donna, beckoning us through the trees. After a moments hesitation, we follow.

"I don't see any camp," Dylan says.

"That's because it's hidden. Keep following me and hurry up."

We continue walking through the woods until we see a sign which says: CAMP HALF BLOOD. Holding up the sign is two pillars. Sky and I walk through the entrance. The others linger behind.

I look back to see what's keeping them. Dylan is held back by an invisible barrier as he tries to enter. 

“Oh!" says Donna. "I nearly forgot you're a mortal. I guess we can deal with you later."

"Deal with him later?!" Sky demands furiously. She grabs Dylan's hand, trying to pull him through the camp's borders. But it didn’t work. “Why isn’t this working?”

Donna ignores her. "Okay, Dylan. State your full name." "Um...Dylan Spiegelman," he mutters.

Donna nods. "I give Dylan Spiegelman permission to enter!"

The whole situation is so confusing I'm adding that to another of my questions to ask. Immediately, Sky pulls Dylan through the barrier. I sigh in relief. I walk to the edge of the hill which a gigantic pine tree sits on, and look down to see yet another crazy sight.

I find that I can't stop staring at everything. The camp is dotted with various buildings that look Ancient Greek. There's a pavilion, an amphitheater, and an arena. Not only that, but a volleyball court, a large red house, and twelve cabins formed in a U shape. Kids of all ages run around, all wearing bright orange t-shirts.

"Whoa..." Dylan says. "Where are we?”

“Camp half-blood, dummy,” Sky says. “Donna already said that.”

He shoves her playfully, and she responded by grinning at him. Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen Sky actually smile. Not in my presence, anyway. 

Donna leads us through the camp towards the big red house. "Our stop is the big house, where all your questions will be answered."

The big house looks a little old, with a strange green light coming from the attic. I shudder. I hate creepy, dusty attics. Especially ones with green lights in them.

Donna steps on the porch and we follow. She rounds the porch to the other side of the house. Two chairs are on the porch, along with two men. They're playing a game of chess. 

The first man has a chubby face and curly hair so black is looks purple. He is bent over in concentration, his face irritated. The other man has thinning brown hair, bushy eyebrows, and a scruffy beard.

As we walk closer, my eyes travel down to the second man's legs and I gasp. Instead of regular, human legs, there is a white horse's body in its place! Dylan makes a small squeaking sound and Sky makes a similar noise.

We all stare in awe as the half-man half-horse looks over at us. "Ah, Donna, your back. And you've found demigods....well, the boy isn't one."

Donna nods. "I didn't realize the boy was a mortal until we tried walking through the borders of camp." 

“Um," says Dylan. "This boy has a name!"

"What's going on, who are you, and where are we?" Sky asks. "It's time we've gotten some real answers here! This whole day is just crazy and I'm about to throw someone off a cliff!"

I sigh deeply in disapproval. She can never seem to control her temper, can she?

To my surprise, the horse man laughs lightly. "I will answer all your questions now." We all start to talk at once, so he shouts, "But individually!"

"Before I do that, though, my name is Chiron, and this is Mr. D. I am the activities director here. Mr. D is the camp director," he says. "Now, I'll have this young lady first."

He beckons Sky over. Donna has Dylan and I wait inside the house. We sit on a couch in silence.

I have never talked to Dylan much before. Only once to ask him about a problem, since we were forced to be partners in math class once.

"So..." I say. "Are you as freaked out as me?" 

He nods. "Yeah. This is one messed up day...”

I gaze up at the ceiling. "So you and Sky are close?" I ask, even though I already know the answer.

"Yeah, we're best friends. Why're you asking?"

"Oh, no reason. But I do have one question."

He looks at me curiously. "What is it?"

I think it through and decide to ask him. I hope he doesn't get mad, though. "Why...why does Sky hate me so much?"

He furrows his brows. "Are you kidding? Do you know how you treat her?”

“I treat her like a normal human being.”

“No. Just a month ago, you and your friends put thirty pieces of gum in her hair! And you constantly make fun of her, throw stuff at her in class,  and yell at her.” 

Oh right. The gum incident. I put gum in Sky’s hair after she “accidentally” poured soup into my lap at lunch. It was only fair I got her back. 

I feel a little ashamed, but toss my hair over my shoulder. “I am  not a bad guy, Dylan. And for the record, Sky chews gum all the time. I was just giving her some extra gum.”

“She had to cut off her  hair .” 

I hide my smile. “Well, she looks like a boy now. She normally acts like one, anyway.” Now it's my turn to look at him curiously. "You're really protective over her, huh?"

He blushes. "N-No..."

I scoff but don't press the matter. A few minutes later of sitting in silence, Chiron calls me outside. I watch Sky's expression as she passes by me, but she doesn't look mad. She seems kind of...excited.

I take a seat in the chair beside Chiron and Mr. D. Chiron looks over at me. "Any questions?"

"Um...yes. What are you?" I ask. 

Chiron laughs. "I am a centaur. Half-man, half-horse. Don't be afraid of my form. You'll get used to it here."

Get used to it?  I wonder. "Did Sky tell you about what happened?"

He nods slowly, running a hand through his beard. "Yes. That was a hydra."

"A hydra," I repeat.

"Yes."

"Where are we?" I ask.

Beside me, Mr. D snorts. "Definitely less persistent than the other girl." 

We ignore him.

"This might be a little to take in. As you already know, this is Camp Half-Blood."

"Half...meaning...?"

He smiles slowly. "I think you know. The campers here are half- human, half-god. Here, we train to fight monsters, like the one you encountered at the airport. Think of all the gods and goddesses you know. They're real."

I blink a few times. "You sound crazy!”

“You’re talking to a centaur, and  that’s crazy?” 

Fair point. “How is this possible?"

"This is a Greek camp, so all the kids here are Greek demigods. Demigods are the offspring of a mortal and a god. Mount Olympus---where all the gods live--- is stationed right above the Empire State Building."

"So..." I start to understand the situation. "I'm a demigod? And...since my dad lives with me...my mom is a goddess?"

He nods. "Preciously."

"But why didn't my dad ever tell me?"

"To protect you. Monsters can hunt you anywhere at anytime. And if you knew your true identity, it tends to put you in more danger."

This makes some sense. But would it have killed my dad to even hint at where my mom went? He said she left me when I was a baby. He said she was the most gorgeous human being he'd ever seen. Whenever I got him to talk about her, his eyes lit up and a smile was on his face. She was a lot of things to him.

"So," I say. "Why did Mrs. Gram..the one who turned into the...hydra, ask us all those questions about ourselves?"

"She was just trying to manipulate you, I assume. For a monster, she was quite clever to ask you questions beforehand. The deeper the questions? The more she could get closer to your weaknesses."

I scoff. "Me? Having weaknesses? Unlikely.”

“You might surprise yourself, Kaelin. In a few days, give or take."

I force a smile and stand up. "That's all the questions I have, then."

"Okay," he says. "Call in your last companion, would you? Donna will give you three a tour of the camp once we're all finished with questions. Oh, and make sure to come to the campfire tonight after dinner. The gods have tended to claim their children much sooner than later, nowadays. You will most likely find out who your godly parent is by tonight."

A shimmer of hope runs through me. I still feel kind of confused and freaked out, but I'm satisfied that my questions have been answered. For now. Because for the first time in my life, I actually feel really good about something. 


	4. Chapter 4

MILES

"Bye, dad!" I call as I walk out the car into the somewhat chilly air. Tonight, I'm doing something I usually would never do. I'm usually not the type of person to hang out with friends, unless it involves my closest friend Will. Surprisingly, when Will asked me if I wanted to come to the movies with him and his girlfriend, I heard the answer 'yes' come out of my mouth.

Even though I said yes, I didn’t want to go. Seeing Will with a girlfriend bothers me, because the truth is that I’ve had a crush on him forever. But he’s my best friend, and it would be too weird if I told him. We’re both thirteen years old. Also, he doesn’t know I’m gay. Now that he has a girlfriend, I’ve decided to keep my mouth shut. 

So here I am, going to the movies with some friends to celebrate the first night of fall break.

I walk inside the movie theater and look around for Will and his new girlfriend, Kaylee. I spot them in line for food. I quickly beeline over to them before they can buy all the food I hate.

"Hey, Miles," Will says once he sees me. 

I can tell he's refining himself in front of her, trying to make himself look good. Honesty, I don't know how he even got a girlfriend in the first place with his strange behavior.

I've known Will for two years now. All the time I've been friends with him, he tends to act a little strange. Once, I saw him chewing on a tin can for no reason. He also tends to always wear baggy jeans, no matter the weather. He claims that he has some strange leg disorder. 

Which makes it even stranger that he gets a girlfriend out of nowhere.

I smile. "Hey, Will. Hey, Kaylee. So what movie are we seeing?" 

A playful smile forms on Will’s face. "The Death Of Miles."

I nearly have a panic attack but then I realize what he said. I laugh a little to ease the tension. "Very funny, Will."

Kaylee laughs. "Yeah. VERY funny."

I roll my eyes at the weird smiles they keep making at each other. Seriously, if Will wanted to be alone with Kaylee, he could've just asked. I‘d rather not watch this. 

Kaylee is the new girl at my school. She came just last week. She's very pretty, with her long brown hair and blue eyes. Which of course, makes it even more unreasonable that Will got her to be his girlfriend. No offense to him.

We buy popcorn and get into the movie theater, packed since everyone is off school. It's only 5:00 in the afternoon, a strange time to go out to the movies.

Turns out, Will picked a horror movie. Of course, probably just to scare Kaylee enough that she'd cuddle with him. Will sits in between Kaylee and I, them eating the popcorn while me declining every time they offer me some. I don't want to barf up my whole meal the second I see something creepy.

Throughout the whole movie, I keep my eyes closed. Horror movies terrify me. I only came here to make sure Will was okay. Next to me, Will and Kaylee keep whispering to each other. I feel uncomfortable. I announce I'm going to the bathroom and walk out the door.

On my way to the bathroom, a flicker of red catches my eye. I look back but only see an empty room. Weird. I'm probably just freaked out from the movie even though I didn't watch any of it. I hurry inside the bathroom before I can scare myself anymore.

I run a hand through my blonde hair and splash water on my face. I breathe in and out slowly to calm myself. I regret saying yes to this outing. Will just wanted some support on his ‘date' with Kaylee, and I'm obviously the third wheel.

I sigh heavily, wishing once again for the thousandth time that I could get some real friends. Friends that actually, genuinely care about me. But in my case, I know it most likely won't happen. At my school, everyone thinks I'm this kid who gets into the worst situations possible. Apparently, that prevents me from making friends. 

So instead of making friends, I try to win at everything. I enter contests and win them. I enter races and come out first place. I do everything I can to be the best. I feel better when I’m proud of myself, when my dad is proud of me. And it’s my one way to connect with my mom, who apparently had more gold metals than I can count. 

I know I would've had much more fun hanging around my dad watching an actually good movie. I would've loved to hang with my mom, too, but I've never known her. From what I've heard from my dad, she left me the day I was born. It's a very touchy subject, but whenever I get him to talk about her, he always says how amazing she was up until she left. How full of pride she was.

And that pride is what made her leave, as my dad had said. She was too prideful to stay and start a family. She wanted to be more victorious and go win and conquer things. My dad talked about this with bitterness, as if she'd done something severely wrong.

Every picture my dad has kept of her have been cropped. Cropped--- as in her head was cut out of the picture. Literally. Whenever I see a 'family' photo with her in it, all I see is the body of a woman, no head. Almost as if I knew what she looked like, I might try finding her. And I have. But I’ve never been able to. 

I walk out of the bathroom and start to make my way back to the movie, but I stop. I attempt moving forward, but I can't, as if some invisible barrier is blocking my path.

"What is going on?" I mutter. I look around but don't see any workers positioned around the room like usual. Where did everyone go?

A chill goes up my spine. I shudder as I feel someone's eyes on me.

"Who's there?" I demand, whipping around. I still don't see anyone. A laugh echoes through the room.

I freeze and turn in the direction of the sound. My heart begins to pound. Whatever is happening, it better be a prank. I make out someone lingering in the shadows in the corner of the room. 

“Who are you?" I ask.

The figure slowly steps out of the shadows, only to reveal Kaylee. "Kaylee?" I blink in surprise. "What are you doing?"

A slow smile spreads across her face. “Miles Martin, I'm here to finish you," she says in a voice that's much deeper than usual.

I laugh nervously. "Oh, I get it. Your reenacting the movie we just watched, right?"

She steps closer to me and laughs again, sending another chill up my spine. "Yes, that's it. Now close your eyes and I'll give you a surprise."

I frown. "Kaylee, you and Will are dating. You shouldn't be cheating on him. I won’t do that to Will! He would kill me!”

She tilts her head to the side. "Now why would he kill you? Wouldn't I do that for him?"

“Uh....”

For the first time, I notice her hair isn't as brown as I thought. It's more of a reddish color, the same shade of red I saw earlier. She walks closer to me and I back away slowly.

"Look," I say. "I don't know why you’re being all weird right now, and I understand if you like me, but---"

Suddenly, she lunges at me. She tackles me to the ground at an extremely fast speed---too fast to be normal. I growl in pain as my head collides with the ground. 

She smiles down at me eerily. I struggle to get up, but she pushes me down again.

"I've been waiting all week to do this, Miles. You have no idea how much willpower it took to not grab you during class or in the hallway. You just smell so...lovely. Like a flower. I was planning to wait a little longer, but I guess I'll just eat you now."

I stare at her in horror as she extends her hands outward, razor sharp claws growing from where her fingernails were. Then, she throws her arm, aiming to hit me. I scream. But then, she stops. A strange expression appears on her face as she suddenly falls to the ground beside me. I look up to see Will standing above me.

“Miles,” he says with urgency, as if he didn’t just knock out his girlfriend. “Let’s get out of here.” 


End file.
